Football: NZ women third after dramatic comeback

The New Zealand women's football side grabbed third place at the Cyprus Cup overnight after scoring two goals in a dramatic last two minutes of their 2-1 playoff win over Switzerland.

Betsy Hassett equalised in the 88th minute and Hannah Wilkinson scored the winner a minute later to round out a successful campaign for Tony Readings' side, who won three and lost one, although the Football Ferns coach was disappointed with the way his side started.

"We were poor in the first half," he said. "It was a below-par performance without the intensity we had in our first three matches and we deserved to be behind at halftime."

New Zealand were restricted to a handful of half-chances and Switzerland scored a back-post volley in the 23rd minute after earlier missing a penalty in the first half.

New Zealand goalkeeper Rebecca Rolls brought down a Swiss striker and Readings admitted he was relieved his goalkeeper was not sent off.

"I've seen 'keepers go for that kind of offence before, and when the referee went to her pocket I was worried."

Rolls was recalled in goal and Readings gave maiden tournament starts to youngsters Katie Bowen and Holly Patterson, while Helen Collins came in for Wilkinson.

"We spoke at halftime about why we were behind and it wasn't tactical or technical but it was our attitude."

Readings made three changes at the interval with Ria Percival returning from injury and game changers Hassett and Wilkinson entering the fray, with Rosie White also coming on with 20 minutes to play.

"They dropped off to defend their lead and got players behind the ball so it was hard to break them down and create chances," said Readings.

With a couple of minutes remaining, Hassett drove through the heart of the Swiss defence and lashed home from the edge of the box. The Football Ferns then snatched victory a minute later after a heavy White challenge on the goalkeeper allowed Wilkinson to tap home unopposed.

Readings was pleased with the win over Switzerland, especially coming from a goal down but hoped his side would take the positives from the Cyprus Cup experience.

"We've adopted a new style of play and been able to win more matches at this tournament than ever before, which is pleasing.

"More importantly, we learned that we can't pick and choose when we play with intensity and we paid the price for that in today's first half."

England, who beat New Zealand 3-1 earlier in the tournament, defeated Canada 1-0 in the final to claim their second Cyprus Cup title.

The Football Ferns will now return to their respective clubs before coming together at the end of May prior to a glamour fixture with world champions Japan on June 20.

New Zealand 2 (Betsy Hassett 88, Hannah Wilkinson 89) Switzerland 1. HT: 0-1.

 

Add a Comment